Etymology
1. "mental capacity," O.E.
wit, more commonly
gewit, from P.Gmc.
*witjan (cf. O.S.
wit, O.N.
vit, Dan.
vid, Swed.
vett, O.Fris.
wit, O.H.G.
wizzi "knowledge, understanding, intelligence, mind," Ger.
Witz "wit, witticism, joke," Goth.
unwiti "ignorance"), from PIE
*woid-/*weid-/*wid- "to see," metaphorically "to know" (see vision). Related to O.E.
witan "to know" (source of wit (v.)). Meaning "ability to make clever remarks in an amusing way" is first recorded 1542; that of "person of wit or learning" is from c.1470.
Witticism coined 1677, by Dryden. For nuances of usage, see humor.
"A witty saying proves nothing." [Voltaire, Diner du Comte de Boulainvilliers]
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *weyd-
4. Proto-Indo-European *wóyde
5. Proto-Germanic *witaną
6. Proto-West Germanic *witan
7. Old English witan
8. Middle English witen
9. English wit
10. From Middle English witen, woten, from Old English weotan, witan, from Proto-West Germanic *witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną (“to know”), from Proto-Indo-European *wóyde (“to know”), from *weyd- (“to see”).
11. Cognates
12. Cognate with North Frisian waase, wed, weet (“to know”), Saterland Frisian wíete (“to know”), West Frisian wite, witte (“to know”), Alemannic German wüsse (“to know”), Cimbrian bizzan (“to know”), Dutch and Low German weten (“to know”), German wissen (“to know”), Limburgish wéïte (“to know; to remember”), Luxembourgish wëssen (“to know”), Vilamovian wysa, wyssa (“to know”), Yiddish וויסן (visn, “to know”), Danish vide (“to know”), Elfdalian witå (“to know”), Faroese and Icelandic vita (“to know”), Jutish veer (“to know”), Norwegian Bokmål vide, vite (“to know”), Norwegian Nynorsk veta, vita, våtå (“to know”), Scanian veda (“to know”), Swedish veta (“to know”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (witan, “to know”); also Breton gouzout (“to know”), Cornish godhvos, goffos (“to know”), Irish feadair (“to know”), Welsh gwybod (“to know”), Latin videō (“to see”), Ancient Greek οἶδ’ (oîd’), οἶδα (oîda, “to know”), Albanian vizë (“line, stripe, track; dash”), Latvian veids (“form, kind, mode, type”), Lithuanian veidas (“face; front; appearance, aspect, look”), Belarusian ве́даць (vjédacʹ, “to know”), Bulgarian вям (vjam, “to know”), Czech vědět (“to know”), Polish wiedzieć (“to know”), Russian ве́дать (védatʹ, “to know”), Serbo-Croatian vedeti, viedieti (“to know”), Slovak vedieť (“to know”), Slovene vedeti (“to know”), Ukrainian ві́дати (vídaty, “to know; to deal, manage”), Armenian գիտեմ (gitem, “I know”), գիտենալ (gitenal), գիտնալ (gitnal, “to know”), Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬛 (vaēd, “find”), 𐬬𐬌𐬛 (vid, “know, understand”), Persian نوید (navid / nawīd, nuwēd, “invitation; annunciation; good news”), Tocharian A ime (“awareness, consciousness, memory, thought”), Tocharian B īme (“awareness, consciousness, memory, thought”), ūwe (“educated, knowledgeable, learned”), Sanskrit विद् (vid, “to know; to find; to consider as”). Compare guide. See: Middle English '
witen', Proto-Germanic '
*witaną', Proto-Indo-European '
*wóyde', Frisian, Northern 'waase', Frisian, Saterlandic 'wíete', Alemannic German '
wüsse', Cimbrian 'bizzan', German, old spelling '
wissen', Luxembourgish '
wëssen', Wymysorys '
wysa', Danish '
vide', Norwegian '
vide', Norwegian, nynorsk '
veta', Swedish '
veta', Breton '
gouzout', Cornish '
godhvos', Welsh '
gwybod', Latin '
videō', Belarusan '
ве́даць', Bulgarian '
вям', Czech '
vědět', Polish '
wiedzieć', Russian '
ве́дать', Serbo-Croatian '
vedeti', Slovak '
vedieť', Slovene '
vedeti', Ukrainian '
ві́дати', Armenian '
գիտեմ', Sanskrit '
विद्'.
Verbs referencing "wit"
Norwegian
vite, German, old spelling
wissen, Russian
видеть, Bulgarian
видя, Luxembourgish
wëssen, Proto-Slavic
věděti, Russian
ведать, Alemannic German
wüsse, Sanskrit
विन्दति, Cimbrian bizzan, Ukrainian
видіти.